Derailed Amtrak train was doing 80 mph in 30 mph zone

The passenger train that derailed in Washington state was traveling 80 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone, transport investigators said late Monday.

Bella Dinh-Zarr, vice chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, told journalists "it's too early to tell" why the train was travelling at such a fast speed, an estimate that came from preliminary information obtained from an event data recorder in the rear locomotive.

The Amtrak train -- which Dinh-Zarr said was likely carrying some 80 passengers, three crew and



two service personnel -- was travelling on a new route for the first time before plunging off a bridge onto a busy highway, leaving at least three people dead.

Federal investigators would be on the scene for a full day Tuesday, she said, kicking off a probe into the incident that would likely last seven to 10 days.

Information obtained from the front locomotive's data recorder, which has been more difficult to access, would potentially lend more insight into the train's exact speed, according to Dinh-Zarr.